Laboratories & Analysis

One common question is ‘Where can I get my product analyzed?’

You need to have your product analyzed in order to develop the guaranteed analysis. Also, if you are making a complete and balanced food and want to use the "formulated to meet" option for the nutritional adequacy statement, you need to have your product analyzed. Another reason to need an analysis of your product is to support romance copy/marketing claims that might trigger the requirement for a guarantee.

Various types of analyses are commonly done on pet foods. The Proximate Analysis usually includes crude protein, crude fat, crude fiber, moisture and ash. This analysis can be used for determining the basic guarantees and for determining caloric content if needed. A Complete AAFCO Nutrient Profile includes all of the nutrients in either the Dog Food Nutrient Profiles or the Cat Food Nutrient Profiles. Remember to tell the laboratory which species is needed. A Limited Nutrient Profile includes the nutrients needed for determining a family member for nutritional adequacy substantiation. A Complete Fatty Acid Profile is often used in the development of guarantees for claims related to omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids.

NOTE: No regulatory official can make any endorsement of one laboratory over another.

How to find a laboratory to test your Pet Food Product:

Please contact the laboratory directly to find out how to send a sample, how much to send and how much the analyses will cost.

DISCLAIMER

The information contained in this website is designed to provide advice to small petfood and treat manufacturers on regulatory requirements and to assist them in the development of proper labeling for these products.

AAFCO has no statutory authority to regulate pet products.

Rather, enforcement of violations is the purview of the state feed control officials, so companies must comply with each state's requirements. While most states follow AAFCO model regulations, exact language and interpretation may differ between states. While these documents offer guidance that are helpful in the vast majority of states, it is the responsibility of the manufacturer to ensure compliance with individual state requirements.

Did you know?

AAFCO does not regulate, test, approve or certify pet foods in any way.

AAFCO establishes the nutritional standards for complete and balanced pet foods, and it is the pet food company's responsibility to formulate their products according to the appropriate AAFCO standard.

It is the state feed control official's responsibility in regulating pet food to ensure that the laws and rules established for the protection of companion animals and their custodians are complied with so that only unadulterated, correctly and uniformly labeled pet food products are distributed in the marketplace and a structure for orderly commerce.